On Sept. 9, a perfectly sun-splashed Bay Area Sunday, a boothful of writer coaches beckoned Solano Strollers to enter the world of truly meaningful volunteering in public schools, as we set up shop at our traditional spot for the 2012 edition of Berkeley and Albany's biggest street fair of the year. By the end of the day, 36 people had put pen to sign-up sheet, ready for coach training and eager to begin working one on one with students across our 12 East Bay school sites.
Setting up shop: Here are (l. to r.) El Cerrito High School Site Co-coordinator Lynda Frank, Berkeley/Albany Volunteer Coordinator Mona Kafoury, and 2011-12 WCC Volunteer of the Year Anne Good, ready for action as the day begins:
And we're off! The tail end of the traditional Solano Stroll kickoff parade had barely passed by when Strollers began flocking to the WCC booth:
Conversations bubbled up all day, in front of the booth and out in the middle of the street, where WCC Longfellow Middle School coach Larry Bensky was spinning the WCC story for Strollers of all ages:
WCC coach Ali Huetter describes the coaching experience...
...and another volunteer is hooked!
Late-afternoon shadows begin to drape Solano Avenue, and if you guess that the lanky figure declaring the day a success for WCC is Longfellow Middle School Site Co-coordinator Mark Pasley, you'll be right!
Bob Menzimer